State lawmakers are proposing to make the hanging of nooses a hate crime in Connecticut.

The proposed law responds to a spate of noose incidents in Connecticut last year, including a recently included investigation at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London.

The proposed law would make it illegal to use nooses to intentionally intimidate or harass another person based on race, national origin, sex, sexual orientation or physical disability.

The legislation would prohibit the placing of nooses on public property at any time and on private property without the written consent of the owner.

On Monday, the Judiciary Committee unanimously approved the noose ban. The legislation now heads to the Senate for further action.

Some committee members questioned why the display of nooses on private property should be still allowed. Without the exception, they were told the proposed law would probably be unconstitutional.

"This is the dilemma with hate crimes. People have a constitutional right to be bigots if they want to, and they can express that however they want to express that, including they can hang swastikas from their houses or things like that," said Rep. Michael P. Lawlor, D-East Haven, the committee's House chairman.

The legislature's African-American Affairs Commission counted five reported noose-hanging incidents in Connecticut in the last six months of 2007, including two involving the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

Last week, Coast Guard officials announced that an internal investigation failed to determine who left nooses last July and August for a black cadet and an officer conducting race relations training.

In Waterbury, president of the local NAACP branch objected last October to a homeowner's Halloween display that included a dummy hanging from a noose.